Breaking Down The Play
by TheCUBEofLiverpool
Summary: Before he started to read between the lines of other people, he used to read the offensive game tactics of his opponents. So what caused Hikigaya Hachiman to quit the beautiful game? Chapter 6 uploaded. The story will take long periods for updating.
1. chapter 1

_"..The ball's given to Shinji Kagawa. He feints and beats a defender. Looking up for potential assists, he finds Aubameyang in an inviting position. Kagawa slides the ball through two opposition players towards the Dortmund forward, who sprints to get to the ball at the edge of D-line. Aubameyang is played on-side by the last man, and now he's on a one on one with the goalie, and he turns AROUND THE KEEPER AND GOAL!! He places the ball delicately in the bottom left corner of net! The goalkeeper had no chance of saving that perfectly placed shot. The other team has no chance of a comeback, as this possibly was the last action in the match. As soon as the other team restart the play on the centre circle, the referee blows his whistle. The final score is 2:1 to the winners. What a match it's been..."_

The television is suddenly switched off. Hikigaya lazily gets off his couch to head to his bedroom.

 _These late broadcasts on Sundays are killing me. Well, can't do much about it though, because of the time difference between Berlin and Chiba._

 _Yes, I said Chiba, not Tokyo. Does anybody have a problem with that?_

Cutting _off this train of thought, it's much more like hell for me when the matches are at the time slot of prime time in Germany. I mean, the match ended at 2 in the morning. My body cannot always handle this!_ _Shit, looks I uttered a line that should never, in any circumstances, be revealed to that damn fujoshi Ebina._

Bah _, and I also have to go to school tomorrow. There's a Language test tomorrow, but my 3rd place in Japanese isn't for nothing, is it?_

Ah _, my eyelids are getting too heavy. Am I going to eternal sleep? Will I not be able to wake up tomorrow? Seems like Yukinoshita's insults are cutting deep into my inner self and are bringing out the dreaded Chuunibyou I had buried deep inside out of me._

Wow _, now I'm getting Chuuni fantasies of repressing the Chuuni inside of me. What is this, Chuuni-ception? I really need to stop getting affected by the Ice-Queen's insults._

And at the time, our protagonist had still not realized that he did not yet leave the comfortable confines of his sofa to move into the more comfortable confines of his bed and had been continuously rambling internally.

 _Why do particles prefer to move towards achieving a lower negative energy potential, even if they originally were in a position of negative potential? What do you mean by switching from an already comfortable state to a 'more' comfortable state? What does that even mean? Comfortable just means comfortable. They should not be so greedy, as we have seen enough examples in human history of people being consumed by their greed .Did I just mix up Science with Humanities? No wonder my Science scores were so depressingly low._

'Enough of the monologues, let's get to sleep' Hachiman mumbled to himself as he got off the sofa to embark on the journey towards his room, only to be stopped by his dry throat. _Guess I'll drink water then_ , he mused.

He remembered the match he watched earlier. 'Only if the opposition team had a defensive midfielder in the vein of Busquets or De Rossi, they might have prevented so many attacks created on their goal. They might have avoided defeat in the final stages of the game, or even better, they might have won it. Sucks having to play a midfield engine with limited defending capabilities at the base of midfield, doesn't it?' Hachiman muttered incoherently to himself as he was getting himself a bottle of water in the kitchen.

 _Oh yes, even I was that type of player and used to play in that position, didn't I? Well, it's all in the past now._

As he was walking on the steps towards his bedroom, he spotted a familiar photo on the side of the staircase. In the photo, there was a football team posing with a trophy, with Hachiman's head being drilled by someone who presumably was the captain of the team. The person had a wide grin on his face as he watched Hachiman squirm in pain due to his assault.

 _Hah, Kazuma nii san. Always loved to tease and torment me like that physically, didn't he?_ _And people, that line above is the second one updated to the list of lines that should never be relayed to Ebina._

Also _, nii san was an attacking midfielder like Kagawa right? His playing style was similar, he created chances for the forwards or he dribbled and scored himself. He pretty much was someone the team could rely on, somewhat like Steven Gerrard. Except for the infamous slip, though._

He _was one of the very few people who recognized the talent in me though._

As Hachiman reached his room, he noticed the two things that would always unconsciously come into his field of vision every time he watched a match – his No. 22 blue-white striped middle school jersey and a pair of football boots he never had the heart to throw even though they didn't fit him at present. He gazed at them longingly with a tinge of sadness as he got on his bed.

 _Well it's in the past now. I only played because nii san asked me to, nothing more, nothing else._

Yet _, what was this feeling of gloom that made me so uneasy?_


	2. Chapter 2

" _Ugggg_ hh...' _now my head's hurting like hell. Who was the moron who had the genius idea of watching late night matches on a Monday morning?_

 _Me._

 _I groggily try opening my eyelids, which takes quite a bit of time due to the brightness my eyes encountered and once I had recovered, I looked around me . The blurry surroundings are of a classroom, possibly my classroom 2-F. I see a figure walking towards me, exuding a shiny aura. She is draped in a long white coat, which somewhat looks like a long flowing cape. She kinda looks like an angel, doesn't she?_

 _Suddenly_ _,_ _the bright aura turns into a dark, scary one which reminds me of one of a woman who's single and unmarried for years. Wait, don't I know that someone?_

 _As I rubbed my eyes, I saw the figure more clearly. My expression turned from one of awe into one of pure, unadulterated fear. The person in front of me was no other than the Devil Superwoman, my homeroom teacher and club advisor, and Battle Brawler, Hiratsuka-sensei._

 _And yes. She was cracking her fists. And she was moving towards the kill, namely me._

 _Oh my god, she had a face of someone whose date never appeared for the scheduled meeting._

 _But why did her eyebrows suddenly twitch? The room grew a lot colder, and the miasma surrounding her seemed to become denser._

 _Don't tell me, she's an ESPer of all sorts?_

 _Shit! I see her fist coming towards me in slow motion..._

 _...To be continued...*enter Yes –Roundabout baseline*_ _[1]_

At that moment, when normally the class would get boisterous and talk about their plans after schools as it was the last class of the day, this time the class was unusually silent. Perhaps it was due to the fact that their Homeroom teacher Hiratsuka-sensei was walking towards an unknowing and unknown classmate of theirs who currently was nodding off, that too with a pissed expression. No, forget that. That was the only reason you'll ever need to explain her behaviour. Yuigahama thought of doing something, but it already was too late. The hands - or rather - fists of judgement were going to fall on the unsuspecting victim of what could be termed as the Wrath of the Jilted.

But as soon as her fist flew, the bell rung, signalling the end of classes for the day. Her fist suddenly stopped, much to the surprise of Hikigaya, but he sighed, relieved, and thanked the gods for their divine intervention.

 _Seiren were saved by the Buzzer Beater, but I was saved from the Buzzer Beater._ [2]

The class immediately cleared out, not wanting to be collateral in the Rage Of Hiratsuka. Yuigahama wanted to help our dumb protagonist, but she knew that if she interfered, she was sure-shot to be caught in the midst of the crossfire. She quickly clapped her hands and chanted 'Namu' before running for her life.

 _But something is wrong here, isn't it?_ Hikigaya looked upwards, and he saw the murderous glint his Homeroom teacher's eyes turn into one of mischief. _I repeat,_ _NOT GOOD, NOT GOOD!_ _The fist of fate_ _may have been suppressed for now, but I am going to be tortured into doing some hellish tasks._

 _NOOOOOOO!_

 _NOOOOOOO!_ _[3]_

"Hikigaya~" Hiratsuka says in a sickly sweet voice.

"….Yes?" Hikigaya gulps then answers her.

"Looks like you find my lectures boring now, don'tcha? I'm afraid that you might have completed the whole High School syllabus for Japanese, and you won't have anything to do for rest of your classes until graduation…." Sensei trails off with a fake crying voice.

Suddenly, her demeanour changes into one reminiscent of Haruno. The one that looks she's singing you to sleep all the while strangling you, stabbing you and castrating you at the same time.

 _Shit, this is bad, THIS IS BAD!_

"…..So I was wondering, why don't you help organize the Annual Alumni Meet for the school? You won't be bored there. You'll be doing the heavy lifting, you'll organize the minutes, you will have to interact with the alumni members. I'll even throw in a recommendation for you. Won't you do it~?"

"…Uh…..Uhmmmmm…" Hikigaya grunted in response.

Hearing him grunt, Hiratsuka suddenly burst into laughter, though it was more like a roar. "Ahahaha…that look on your face that shows up only on the mention of work and interacting with other members of society, too hilarious for me…hahahaaa.."

"Uh….haha….haha? " _Damn, you woman. You are becoming more like Haruno these days. And by the way, why the hell were you cackling like an old witch? Not that I'll ever tell her._

But unfortunately for our main character, his thoughts tingled Hiratsuka's secret 'Hag' sensors, and immediately a punch landed on his stomach.

"What…the..hell…" Hikigaya gasped, as he held his stomach and keeled over.

"Thought you insulted me in your rotten mind. Anyways, the part about helping out is correct, it will be one of the Service Club's requests, so get going!" Saying this, Hiratsuka slapped Hikigaya's back and left the classroom, leaving him to his suffering alone.

 _That slap on the back was totally unwarranted for! And did she say Alumni? Oh no!That meddlesome demon queen Haruno will come once again and I will get captured in her whims. Don't wanna work, but also don't wanna die._

 _Wait, wasn't that line above characteristic of a corporate slave?_

 _-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-_

 _[1]-Jojo_

 _[2]-Kuroko no Basket_

 _[3]- Daily lives of Highschool Boys_

 _I grabbed a can of MAX from a nearby vending machine and made my way towards the Service Club. Though the club's tea was absolutely delicious, the after effects of the late night match were inducing yawns every now and then from my mouth throughout the day. And as usual, the girls sitting near me were creeped out in the classroom by my actions._

'That creep. He must have stayed up playing a eroge or something' said one of them.

'Uwaah..I don't want to catch that guys germs..' said the partner of the aforementioned girl while covering her mouth with her palm.

 _Oi, Hikigerma isn't real. And keep your judgemental opinions to yourself. Not that I would say that to the perpetrators, otherwise a huge ruckus may be caused and my headache would become worse. I absolutely don't want to be entangled in those kinds of things._

 _I take a swig of the sweet coffee while walking towards the clubroom. 'Better try to stifle some of these yawns, or else Yukinoshita will start off our today's club session with a barrage of insults directed towards my being, and sure won't handle them'. With these thoughts in mind, I entered the clubroom._

 _What greeted my eyes was the usual sight I was accustomed to for the last year. Yukinoshita reading a book, and Yuigahama either listening to music on her phone or talking about the latest fad with her precious 'Yukinon'. Or they might be having a Yuru-Yuri hug session. It seemed like Gahama san was Yukino's teddy bear, and Yukinoshita was Yuigahama's beat up soft toy doll. Everyone should understand that reference, shouldn't they?_

'Hikki, are you alright? You don't need to be admitted to a hospital, do you?' asked Yuigahama with a tone of concern gravitating towards humour.

'Good afternoon, Hikigaya kun. Yuigahama san, I don't think Hikigaya kun would be injured severely. His existence is already an anomaly on the Earth' broke in Yukinoshita. _It seemed that she was raring for an insult exchange. Though I previously had made up my mind not to participate in such a banter session, the smirk on her face totally destroyed that conviction._

'Oh, you have researched me well, haven't you, Yuki-pedia san' _I retorted sarcastically which caused her to get flustered for a second but she quickly recovered. Tell me, who's this invisible and highly skilled healer in your party?_

'You seem to have made the wrong assumption, Hiki-loner-kun. You are an anomaly, but you are like those undiscovered species of seaweed found off the coast of Madagascar. Wait a minute, your hair looks like seaweed, are you somewhat related to them ?' she said with a teasing smirk. _Damn she got me there. You win today. And I'm not escaping this exchange with my tail between my legs, I'm exhausted , don't misunderstand?_

 _Crap, I sounded like a generic Tsundere of a random crappy harem anime that pops every season. Seriously, though, you guys animate this, but no Season 3 of Spice and Wolf and Season 2 of Baccano? Shame on you, anime studios._

'You win today, Yukinoshita' I replied in a tired voice, which seemed to get the attention of both my club members.

'Are you okay, Hikki?' Yuigahama enquired with a face of concern.

'Yeah I'm okay, I'll just go wash my face…' _as I stood up, one of my hands carelessly hit the half-empty Max can. The can did not rotate while falling, and before I knew it, I instinctively saved the can using my feet. I then lobbed the can in the air, and caught it with my hand. 'Damn that was a close one. Good thing my juggling is as good as it was before' I thought._

Seeing this little event, the other two club members were somewhat surprised. They didn't know Hikigaya to be the athletic type, yet he juggled the can with ease.

'HIKKI, WHAT WAS THAT!' exclaimed Yuigahama.

'What was what? Oh, the can. I guess you could call juggling one of my 108 skills' remarked Hikgaya offhandedly. 

'All that to save that disgustingly sweet concoction of a drink ' said Yukinoshita with fake disgust.

'Oi, don't disrespect Max Coffee. If the coffee had spilled on the floor, it would have been a great loss to me and I would have had to clean the club room floor. Basically, I just avoided a double whammy there' said Hikigaya with renewed vigour. The insult of his beloved Max brought about a surge of energy in him which would be usually seen in a typical Shonen anime where the MC is close to defeat but the wishes of his 'Nakama' prove to be slap of energy on his back. Hearing his reply, Yukinoshita supressed an incoming headache and Yuigahama nervously laughed. _Well, all is well, thought Hikigaya._

Hikigaya returned to his seat and pulled out a book he had recently bought, the Japanese translated version of _The Catcher in the Rye._ He decided against buying the one printed in English, as he had to somewhat brush up on his English in order to read the Classics without looking in the dictionary every alternate second. Yukinoshita also returned to her book and Yuigahama returned to doing, well, Yuigahama things.

 _-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-_

After the closing hours, the Service club trio exited the clubroom and went towards the main school gate. There, they were surprised to see the members of Hayama's clique in front of the gate.

 _Why the heck are they here? Thought Hikigaya. And why is damn fujoshi having a nosebleed in front of the gate? Did some just drop off a crate of yaoi in front of the gate?_

But the thing that surprised him was Hayama having a troubled expression. Hikigaya then glanced beyond the entrance where he saw two individuals. Then suddenly, one of them called out to him.

'Oye, Hachiman!' shouted one of the guys, who had dark brown hair. He was surprised to see that the source of that voice was his cousin, Kazuma.

'Is that really Hachiman?' exclaimed the other who was a handsome guy with blonde hair.

As soon the blonde came into his field of vision, Hachiman frowned.

 _Oh no, not him ._


	3. Chapter 3

**Woah! Thanks for the response to my story. Starting from now the format of the story will be - Italics for Hachiman's inner thought processes and Normal font for all others. I'll be using double inverted commas from now on, as suggested by one user. And there will be some quips by Narrator in between lines, so don't get confused. Also, I'll try to create longer chapters, but I can't guarantee it on that front. So cheers and enjoy the third chapter.**

 **Anyways, anyone wanna be a Beta reader for me?**

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 _Have you ever been in a position of much discomfort and awkwardness that you would have liked to not have been part but escaping from it is as impossible as getting through three to four highly skilled defenders looming over you as the ball is at your feet? No wait, Messi did get through the Read Madrid defence, rather, he tore through them in one of those 'El Classico' matches. But, doesn't he do that four or five times a season?_

 _Oh wait, I'm getting off-track here._

 _Currently, I'm in a position, which, even I won't wish upon my enemies who are loners themselves. All the attention of the onlookers near the main entrance of Sobu is directed towards me. Even my ultimate skill 'Stealth Hikki' isn't going to work now. Damn, now I'm starting to think in Zaimokuza lingo. He really is the Zaimo-kuzu of the Earth and is responsible for the bad representation and stereotyping of anime and manga in the world._

 _Seriously, I just want to hide myself in a shell located at Bikini Bottom. Why can't I go missing like those supposed 'star' forwards during derby matches?_

Kazuma, Hachiman's cousin, waved to him from outside the gate. The blonde also did in tow.

"OHMYGAWD THIS FATEFUL ENCOUNTER OF THE THREE LOVERS IS TEARING ME APART GUAAAAH!" Ebina burst out, both literally and figuratively. And, Miura, like a veteran shinobi, pulled out a hankerchief swiftly to stop any more bleeding.

"What the hell was that? I'll ask her to teach me that afterwards LOL…" shouted Hikigaya internally after seeing that seemingly choreographed move by Miura as he reached the gate.

"Oh my God, Ebina is going to die of blood loss now if I do not cover her eyes" thought Miura as she shielded the fujoshi's eyes from the scene which would certainly be misconstrued by those rotten eyes of the rotten individual.

"Hikki, who are they?" asked Yuigahama curiously and with a mild tone of surprise.

 _Really, Yuigahama, I'm friendless, not acquaintance-less, m'kay?_

As soon as she asked the question, the attention of Yukinoshita and Hayama's clique, minus the two stooges whose names were as unimportant to Hachiman as the fact that wide backs and full backs in soccer were regarded as different positions, turned towards Hachiman.

"He's my cousin, Hikigaya Kazuma, and the guy beside him is Yoshitake Toshiro" replied Hachiman as he approached the two individuals near the gate.

"Kazuma nii-san, what a surprise ! And you brought a worthless item with you on your journey too…" said Hachiman in his usual deadpan and stoic manner.

"Oi Kazuma! Isn't he being too mean with me?" cried out Toshiro as he clung on the back of Kazuma.

 _Don't do this in front of...well, the damage has been done. Ebina has been knocked out cold. This scene will now suffice for all her fujoshi needs for the next week, I think._

"Ah, yeah, I just came back from Tokyo today to meet with you and your family. And yes, I picked up this worthless item on the way, people don't keep the streets clean nowadays… " replied Kazuma as this sadist duo continued to torment the blonde.

"Not you too!" exclaimed Toshiro.

 _This damned person, acting like how an actual riajuu would. He also looks like someone who would shout 'Kanpai' after each and every week of college. He reminds of a character from a particular basketball anime who had the skill to copy other people's special moves. Wait, doesn't a riajuu already do that?_

Hachiman then let out a sigh of irritation which seemingly brought back Kazuma from his fake bullying skit and made him face Hachiman with attention.

"Anyways, enough of this, tell me, how are you doing, Hachiman?" inquired Kazuma in his natural, upbeat manner with a smile on his face. This made some of the unknown supporting cast of girls near the school gate making noises of "Kyaah! He's cute!" and "Damn, he's pretty good looking..".

 _Why did it only have to be me to inherit the dead eyes from the Hikigaya side? If I wasn't related to Nii-san, I would have certainly taken him to be a Riajuu charmer._

"Same old, same old.." replied Hikigaya in his usual tired voice.

"Don't you dare take that tone with me, Hachiman!" Kazuma exclaimed with fake anger as he chopped our protagonist's head in jest.

"Ow! Anyways are you on your semester-end leave from Tokyodai?" asked Hachiman after rubbing his head after the previous assault.

"Yeah, the dreaded finals are over and since all the college clubs that I am involved in are on a vacation, I decided to visit Chiba with Mom and Akihito. Dad wasn't able to come because he was suddenly assigned to an important project, but actually he really wanted to come. You know, he and Uncle would play Shogi throughout the day whenever they met" groaned Kazuma. He had inherited the Hikigaya way of listless talking, which he usually wouldn't show out in public but, hey, this was his cousin he was talking to who inherited the same characteristics. But suddenly, his eyes shifted towards Yukinoshita and Yuigahama, who were standing next to Hachiman and his face contorted into a sly smile.

Hachiman shivered at the sight of something he had only seen Komachi and a certain irritating underclassman display. He instantly knew his elder cousin was entering his sadist mode, despite him knowing Hachiman to be a man of few words.

"Oyaa, Hachiman-kuun~ .What do we see here? Two girls, and that too two beautiful girls standing next to you. What happened, while I was in university you suddenly leveled up to 'Plain looking but still got a Harem no one knows how' protagonist? Nii-san has somehow created a monster out of you, how will I apologize to Aunt?" teased Kazuma, keeping his sly smile in place.

To those words, both girls started blushing and looked towards the ground in embarrassment, but the Ice-Queen quickly recovered and fortified her defences strongly again. Tell me again, what was the level of your Healing squad inside the castle?

"Hah, as if you're in any position to talk, Nii-san. Keep going with those smiles of yours and someday, you'd get trampled by your own fan-club. Anyways, these two are my club-mates , Yuikinoshita Yukino and Yuigahama Yui. And this guy is my idiot cousin, Hikigaya Kazuma" introduced Hachiman.

"Wah, don't forget about me!"

"Okay, the seemingly idiotic person there is Yoshitake Toshiro and as you can see, he has a facade of an airhead but believe me, he has the cunning comparable to one of Isshiki"

To this, Yuigahama let out a somewhat awkward laugh. And Hayama's clique were observing the situation from afar.

"What's this about a club, Hachiman. Weren't you a legendary loner who was a solitary wanderer in the game called life? Weren't you like 'the only one who can beat me is me myself?'" Kazuma snorted and he was quickly joined by the giggling of Yuigahama, Yukinoshita and Yoshitake.

"We-well that was all in the past! That was just a phase!" Hikigaya replied, flustered.

"But weren't you like that until sometime ago, Hikki?"

"I do not think he has changed that way of thinking until now, Yuigahama-san"

"Not you guys too..." muttered Hikigaya as he trailed off.

"Yeah, enough of the teasing everyone. Don't tell me, you entered a club in order to get close to girls? If that was your aim, then you have succeeded, my friend.." cut in Toshiro with a tone of fake disgust.

"I am not like you, Yoshitake-SENPAI" said Hikigaya in stone-cold,drawling manner, albeit with a slight tinge of venom and disgust. The girls detected the minute amount of venom and they got a hunch that Hachiman's relationship with this particular Senpai was not all sparkles and butterflies , and Toshiro stopped himself from saying anything more.

 _Oh man, the atmosphere's gotten a little serious. I'll have to disperse of it._

"The thing is, I was forced into this club by a certain single Sensei of mine, who wouldn't take no for an answer, and I didn't want to risk getting pummeled into submission." said Hikigaya, with his frustration from the earlier incident getting directed towards Hiratsuka Sensei.

"Oyaa, a female teacher? I KNEW IT! YOU WERE INTO OLDER GIRLS! I HAVE SEEN ALL YOUR DIRTY MAGAZINES! IT SEEMS MY DEDUCTIONS WERE CORRECT!" shouted Kazuma pointing his finger at Hachiman like a prosecutor, but only with enough intensity that the contents of his outburst were only heard clearly by the four other members involved in the ongoing conversation.

Yukinoshita and Yuigahama both wore expressions of disgust and scooted away from Hachiman. Toshiro was laughing raucously while Kazuma maintained his silly grin at his sudden relevation.

"Oi, it's not like that!" Hachiman defended himself. "You two should know better than that.." groaned Hikigaya with fake pain, which made the girls somewhat guilty for their earlier exagerrated actions. _Serves them right, i guess._

"Hachiman, I'm going to Master Donut with Toshiro and you're coming with us. No objections would be considered." Kazuma stated with a serious tone. Then, facing towards the girls, he asked them "Do you two wanna tag along? I'd be grateful if you could give me some insider details of Hachiman's school life. And the things I want to talk about with Hachiman, I presume you two don't want to interfere in the conversation, but it is nothing too personal and I'm sure he wouldn't have revealed that part of him to you guys" said Kazuma with his eyes narrowed towards Hachiman.

"Well..." Yuigahama let out a nervous laugh as she and Yukinoshita traded glances with one another.

"Oi, you two. I have an inkling of the topic he's going to discuss with me, and it's nothing secretive. It's just I don't care about the topic enough to reveal it to the others" Hachiman reassured his clubmates.

"Well then, we'll take you up on your invitation, err...Hikigaya-san" Yukinoshita replied respectfully in her usual cool, stoic manner.

"Okay then. LET'S GO!" shouted Kazuma. Don't tell me, Komachi learned the phrase from Nii-san?

As the five began to move away from the school gate. Toshiro caught sight of Hayama. "Isn't he someone I know?" he wondered. "Let's forget about it, the main part is to convince Hachiman to attend this mini event Kazuma has arranged for, and to somewhat lessen me of my guilt of what I did to Hachiman.." he trailed off in his thoughts.

Hachiman didn't know that this day would mark the start of a new chapter in life.


	4. Chapter 4

Current time: 1700 hours on a certain Friday..

Location: Master Donut, Chiba

Mission Objective: Survive the wrath of Kazuma nii-san and lower the ammo supply to my club-mates related to past idiocies and embarrassing moments. And yes, if the particular mop of yellow hair gets on my nerves, neutralize him there and then.

Mission Rewards: Getting home early and more time for procrastination and also for Koma...

"...achiman? Hachiman!" shouted Kazuma as he brought our protagonist from the land of monologues via the classic, tested method, the 'CHOP' followed by a Glare that would lead most people to re-evaluate all the choices they've made from the time of their birth until the present time, and thus force them into an existential crisis. At present, the only people who could do it were Kazuma and Hachiman's father.

BUT!

This does not work on anyone possessing the blood of the Hikigaya. And also, Hachiman is also resilient to the stares of strangers, which at one time would have made him a sniveling mess. Hence, the main character of our story simply parried this attack away with a special skill of his - The Sigh - which is a beginner level skill that all Hikigayas possess.

Physical damage dealt - 20 hp

Mental damage dealt - 0 hp

Hachiman takes a sip of the elixir (coffee) and he regains full health. He now faces the Main Boss, who is supported by three NPCs who might jump into the battle against him, regarding the situation.

 _Okay, now the others are glaring at me, shut off system and return to the real world. Real life ain't amazing as Metal Gear Solid._

"Yes, nii-san?" answered Hachiman which made Kazuma and Yukinoshita facepalm at his disinterested tone. Silence then ensued for some moments.

Hachiman used this period of respite to take in the present state of business inside the cafe. Excluding their group, only a few tables were occupied and one of them consisted exclusively of loud, boisterous high school girls who were stealing glances at the two other males on their table. The other tables consisted of college couples and middle schoolers who were drowning in their own world. Due to the lack of activity at this hour, some of the staff at the cafe were letting out yawns, and preparing for the incoming rush of office-goers who would usually come to this establishment for takeaway coffee and donuts. Well, that would have been a calculated outcome of establishing a branch of an MNC restaurant just a stone's throw away from a major train station of the city.

Suddenly interrupting his train of thought, Kazuma placed Hachiman at the center of attention "...And now, for the main reason I called this meeting - I have organise futsal match at the turf near the mall which will take place this coming Sunday; I've called up some acquaintances from my middle school days for the match. Toshiro will also be participating in the match and Hachiman, you are required to be present for the match. I know you haven't played football for even a bit in high school and your stamina must now be non-existent, but I have been informed that you are, at present, a lazy bum or as you would like to term it, unmotivated. So Komachi instructed me to whip your lazy ass into shape. And don't give excuses like you don't have the proper football boots or any of that sort..."

 _Hmmmm…..wait, WHAT! No, don't drag me out on a weekend! I work so hard in school (lol) on the weekdays so I definitely require some time to recover and recuperate. Don't take away a loner's refuge! And damn him, blocking all my easier exit pathways from this situation that has arisen without any warnings. Looks like I'll have to use my INVENTIVENESS and CREATIVITY to FORGE an ESCAPE ROUTE.(Enter Tamanawa hands that might either indicate increasing the effectiveness of getting a point through an audience or rather simply, epileptic seizures)._

 _But I had an inkling of suspicion that Nii-san somehow knew of my thought process and had already deduced that I was going to create an excuse or another, so he might decide to nip the bud in its infancy._

 _And right I was, as his glare on me wouldn't allow me worming out of this impossible state of affairs._

 _Rather, I want to confirm the underlying tone behind this announcement of which I had a vague idea, a theory about._

"So, Nii-san, tell me the real reason why I'm forced to give up a day of peace and quiet for participating in a game of football?" Hachiman asked Kazuma with a serious and cold tone. No half-assing the question I want to ask, as I require a genuine reason for this game.

Seeing the determination in Hachiman's eyes, Kazuma sighed and broke out of his glaring persona.

"Hachiman, what have you been doing all this time in high school? You were a great player, albeit having played for a year and a half. You were the best midfielder in the regional tournament, and you were the third best player in the tournament, behind me and that blonde-striker from the other team. You might even had been scouted by a club, after seeing your prowess and skill only in just two years of playing football…"

"Really Nii-san, you overestimate me too much. That was just one tournament, and that too in middle-school. I might not have been able to reach the bench, in high school, don't you think?" Hachiman replied with a subdued tone.

"That's your problem Hachiman; you underestimate yourself too much. And it isn't just football I'm talking about. Komachi told me about your 'stunts' in school. And your laziness is a side-product of you undermining yourself. If you aren't sure about something or indecisive on a course of action, you do not do it. Why did you start doing these things to yourself?" retorted Kazuma angrily.

Hachiman was somehow composed at the start, but at the mention of his past he was slowly losing his composure and was seething with anger. Aiming a glare towards Yoshitake, he vented off steam through his words to Kazuma.

"Why don't you ask him what happened, Nii-san?" Hachiman growled. Seeing the usually calm, collected Hachiman boilng in anger, Yukinoshita and Yuigahama were taken aback. Yoshitake had a gloomy and guilty expression on him, which Kazuma noticed.

"Don't tell me that THAT incident was the reason for you quitting football. Don't give me such selfish reasons like that of a spoiled heir, Hachiman" Kazuma replied.

"What do you know Nii-san, what happened to me after you transferred to Tokyo in the midst of your first year in high school, huh?" Hachiman barked. He and Kazuma were standing,facing one another, and to an onlooker who didn't know a thing about their conversation, it might have looked like a confrontation between two Yakuza leaders, which might, at any moment, break out into a fully-fledged brawl.

The loud nature of their conversation had already attracted the attention of the nearby patrons of the restaurant, which caused Yukinoshita to press her forehead and lead to Yuigahama getting flustered and stutter nervously.

Observing their current situation and their immediate surroundings, Kazuma calmed himself and went back to his seat "Anyways, I don't care about that at all. Be present on Sunday for the game, and no half-assing in the match. You know what awaits you if you do that, don't you?" Kazuma said menacingly in a low voice which caused Hachiman to gulp..

"And yes, go buy the boots today. Here's 10000 yen, pay me back with interest" said Kazuma while handing Hachiman the notes from his wallet. Hachiman wanted to respond, but Kazuma cut him off "I need to go with Toshiro to meet some acquaintances, so you're own your own. I'll wrangle you and hang you from a tree if you don't get that boots today, capiche?" Kazuma's serious expression then turned to that of a smirking one, and then in a manner that was reminiscent of Komachi, he fold his hands and winked towards Yuigahama and Yukinoshita "Can I trust you to make sure my fish-eyed trash of a cousin actually buys his cleats today?".

Seeing his earnest expression, Yuigahama was surprised at first but regained her composure. Scratching her chin, she replied "Eheheh…...Well, I'm free at present, so I guess I can help with his shopping. What do you think, Yukinon?"

Yukinoshita was broken out of her stupor by the sudden question aimed at her "Ahh..yes, I guess we should ensure Hikigaya kun does the only task that was entrusted to him today, shouldn't we, Yuigahama san? As no one asks anything of him…" she ended with a teasing smile.

"Oi"

"So leave him to you guys. See you later." said Kazuma as he and Yoshitake departed for their meeting. After they left, Yuigahama and Yukinoshita turned towards Hikigaya, with Yukinoshita asking the question first "Hikigaya kun, I believe that we've been kept in the dark. Kindly tell us about what was all that talk with your cousin about"

"Yes Hikki, we deserve to know what happened with you"

Seeing the determined face of his clubmates, Hikigaya relented to their demands.

"I'll just give some outer details of it. I'll tell you the rest when I'll be ready to…...You see, all this happened in….."

"Hey Kazuma"

"What is it Toshiro?"

"I kinda feel guilty about what happened in the past with Hachiman, are you sure your plan will convince him to start playing football again?"

"Look, this isn't just about him playing football, it is about him regaining confidence to go through decisions which may not have a high chance of success. In life, you might be at a crossroads from where running away is not a choice. Decisions have to be made sometimes, even if they aren't optimal enough. He has to learn to rely on his heart."

"But you know what Kazuma, relying on his heart did him no good. He was rejected by his peers who were either jealous of him or were trying to not get associated with him in middle school. I'm the source on that. In fact, if I hadn't done that thing that day, Hachiman wouldn't have had such a twisted view on society"

"Well, you're somewhat right, but Hachiman didn't change because just of that incident. No single event could be factor in creating Hachiman's outlook on because he just went with his heart in the past without thinking things thoroughly and his decisions were rejected and ridiculed, doesn't mean he has to become a Monster of Logic in order to avoid the paths which have even a miniscule chance of failing."

"You say that, but when you met up with me for the regional event in your first year of high school you punched me"

"You deserved the punch at that time. But you were just one of the many factors that made Hachiman into the Monster that he is. It's just Hachiman gave up on doing anything, so it's partly his fault. And as per Komachi has relayed to me, he is coming out of his shell of mistrust for others. Those two girls with whom he has formed a bond with are the reason. I just hope that the day won't come when his decision to date one of them destroys their friendship" said Kazuma in a melancholic voice. But he quickly recovers and says to Yoshitake "Enough of that talk now, let's go to the meeting. I bet I'll score with one of the chicks there."

Yoshitake scoffed "Please, as long as I'm there, no one will flock to you"

"But don't you have a girlfriend"

"I don't"

"Then it's a battle"

"A battle it is"

"...so that's the gist of it"

"So basically, you used to play football and you were good at it, but one fine day, due to a certain event, you stopped playing football and made you into this society hating loner who is danger of becoming a 'formidable' cult leader who might never get any followers" Yukinoshita summarized which caused Hikigaya to wince.

"Yeah. that's it"

"Hikki, so will you tell us what really happened one day?"

"Yeah, probably I should tell you sometime" replied Hachiman as he looked at his watch which showed 18:30 and he picked up his bags "I'll be going to the sports shop. You needn't force yourselves to come as I can't defy Nii-san.."

"Nope, we're coming, right Yukinon?" said Yuigahama cheerfully.

"Yeah, I believe we should come, in order to prove Hikigaya kun's innocence in case he gets mistaken for a shoplifter" says Yukinoshita teasingly.

"Geh, another potshot at my eyes. Never gets old, does it?" replied Hikigaya, smiling.

That genuine smile almost made both the girls to stop in their tracks, but they persevered and continued walking with him towards the shop.

"Where shall we go shopping, Hikigaya kun?" asked Yukinoshita.

"We'll be going to the mall, as it's pretty near to our current position"

The trio were left in awe after seeing the wall on which the cleats were displayed. The mall was pretty crowded, but this area of the mall was sparsely populated, which made Yukinoshita sigh in relief. The wall in front of them was adorned with cleats from Nike, Adidas, Puma, Mizuno and New Balance, and if the wall was painted like the interior of the sea, it would have seemed like there was a shoal of multi-coloured fish swimming through the sea.

"Do footballers actually wear these gaudy-coloured shoes?" remarked Yukinoshita with awe, and disgust.

"Guhh, aren't there any simple colored ones" said Hikigaya disappointingly as he scanned the wall for decent boots until he came across the Adidas Messi 15.3 cleats which were white and had a blue pattern on them.

"Hey guys, does this look okay?" asked Hikigaya to which he got answers of affirmation.

He took one off the shelf to examine it, and satisfied with it, called a salesperson to get the correct size. As the salesperson returned, she noticed the two girls and asked him "Quite a player you are, aren't you sir?" to which he gave a deadpan look. The salesperson giggled and returned to the counter.

As he was going towards the counter, he remembered he didn't have a ball. So he picked out a green Nike ball to practice with. He paid for purchases and walked out of the mall with the two girls.

As they exited the mall, Yuigahama suddenly asked nervously "Why don't Yukinon and I come to see your match, if you're okay with it, Hikki? Will you come, Yukinon?"

"I don't have anything planned for Sunday, so I'll be able to come, Yuigahama san" replied Yukinoshita.

"If you want to see me make a fool of myself, then you're welcome" replied Hikigaya sarcastically.

"That's more the reason for me to come, Hikigaya kun"

(The next day)

An alarm goes off at 6 a.m. Hikigaya wakes up groggily and dresses himself up in his jogging attire and trainers.

"Guess I'll have to jog to build up some stamina before the match. Better, I'll take the ball with me too…" muttered Hikigaya as he exits his house to the birds chirping excitedly in the morning.

He drops the ball and starts his first exercise of the morning - Dribbling.


	5. Chapter 5

_Check the road in front of me. All clear. See the park in view. It's surprisingly empty at this time of the day. Great, enough space to freely dribble and it's bound by a wall on one side which can be used to practice my shooting . Place the ball on the side. Do some basic warm-up exercises. Stretching sideways and now bending forwards..._

 _OUCH, OUCH, OUCH!_

 _It seems like I pulled a muscle in my back while bending downwards but I somehow recover and presently am in the process of rubbing my sore back. Thankfully, it's nothing serious. Already I am being forced to undergo morning practice for the match as I at least should get re-accustomed to handling the ball so that I can save face in the match tomorrow. In that way, I won't be the recipient of insults and barbs from our resident Ice Queen and I will be able to save myself from the raging Asura that Nii-san would transform into in case I make a fool out of myself in the field tomorrow._

 _Yay, now's the time for an onsen arc! Time for a nice period of rejuvenation, re-invigoration and ping pong!_

 _Not that anyone's ever going to invite me to the hot springs, though._

 _Now, start basic juggling. I remember that my personal best was 108. Let's smash the record. Drop the ball and start with right foot. Consider alternating the feet for first 50 keepy-uppies. Shit, I drop the ball on the 10_ _th_ _turn. Start again. Steadily improving. Got past 50 on the third try. I decide to continue dribbling with alternate feet throughout._

… _..104, 105,106, 107….and the ball drops. Why the hell am I emulating Zlatan Ibrahimovic who dropped the ball at the 999_ _th_ _juggle in the Nike advert? I start again._

 _I equal my personal best by the second try. Being the lazy ass I am, I stop juggling at 108_ _th_ _moment. Time to start a new task. Let's practice first touches. I kick the ball towards the wall, and perform first touches on the rebounds. Chops satisfactory? Check. I then initiate my practice of controlling air-balls by lobbing them vertically above me in the air and make sure that my first touch completely kills the momentum of the ball. I went on doing it for some nine to ten times until I was completely satisfied with myself._

 _I wipe the sweat of my brow and look at the dial on my sports-watch. The time is 6:30 a.m. I can spare time for at least another half-an-hour of practice._

 _I commence dribbling. I remember to dribble with the outside of my right foot. Is speed of knocking ball acceptable? Yes, maintain the distance between ball and self to be no more than 3 feet. I dribble to the ends of the park, making a quick 360 turn at each end. Some joggers and passing by people shoot curious looks at me, which I choose to ignore. Okay, enough of dribbling. Let's get started with shooting._

 _Now, I am pretty aware of my shooting power and as the kind gentleman and upstanding member of the society I am who tries to avoid problems with other people by maintaining an appropriate distance with them, I kick the ball with restrained power enough that it does not rise above the wall break someone's window. I won't let this be an episode of Doraemon where the main character Nobita is chased by the owner of the house and his vicious dog . After getting the reflected ball, I keep on repeating the process with various shot-angle and using either laces or finesse shots. I continue this chore for some amount of time until I deem it appropriate enough for a mini-court football match as I'm pretty sure I won't be pinging balls from one wing to the other, therefore I pick up the ball and return to my house._

* * *

 _At exactly 10:00 a.m., I get a phone call from none other than the pink ball abundant of energy, Yuigahama._

"Hello Hikki! Ready for the match?" shouts Yuigahama with such vigour that Hachiman almost felt shameful that he wasn't in possession of such an energy source, even though he was the one who would be playing, not her. And I'm stressing on 'almost', as we all know our beloved main character isn't one who is modest about his true feelings.

"Yeah, stop screaming into my ear like a banshee. Anyways, it's a good thing you called. I was going to inform you of the finalized time."

"Thanks, Hikki! I'll inform Yukinon of the time. Meet you at the scheduled place. And make sure to win!"

"Don't go on putting additional pressure on me. Anyways, thanks" replied Hachiman with a slight smile on his face. _Looks like I'll have to put in some effort know,_ thinks Hachiman as he started making preparations for breakfast.

* * *

 _Komachi, why have thou forsaken me?_

 _You may ask why my supportive sister and talisman isn't coming to see my match. That's because she decided to go on a "study session" to a friend's house, leaving me with no lucky charm. And I even forgot to ask Totsuka? But bringing that question up suddenly would have been totaaaaaally creepy of me._

 _I reach the mall well before the stipulated time. Along the way, I buy two pet bottles of energy drinks, because electrolytes are a necessity for players like me who have been away from the game for a long time. As I ascended the stairs to the turf located on the top floor of the mall, I could hear people partaking in an animated conversation out of which I recognised Nii-san's. Let's hope the other guys aren't as demonic like Nii-san is on the field and hopefully aren't total Riajuus._

As soon as Hachiman ascended the stairs, Kazuma caught sight of him and waved to him with a grin on his face. After excusing himself from the conversation, he walked towards Hachiman.

"Hey there Hachiman! Didn't think you would make it today.." said Kazuma sarcastically, knowing full well that our main character wasn't someone who would disobey his orders. To the playful statement, Hachiman gave a groan and a deadpanned look.

"Anyways, meet the people the people with whom we'll be playing today" said Kazuma as he pointed his hand towards the players.

 _Well, I see some familiar faces from the middle school team along with that bug . Hope they don't recognize me…AAAH…AAAHH!_

Immediately Hachiman is put in a headlock by someone who was pretty bulky.

"Hey there Hikigaya junior! You decided to show up, didn't ya? " said someone cheerfully. Hachiman turned towards the perpetrator of his current discomfort and recognized him.

"Oh, hey there Nozaki senpai, long time no see" replied Hachiman with a monotone voice carefully maintaining no animosity or sarcasm in his voice, lest he got snapped like dried twig.

"Still having that unfriendly tone as ever, Hikigaya-kun?" said someone with a playful voice. The voice belonged to a glasses-wearing person with a grin on his face.

"Oh, same to you Wakamatsu-senpai" retorted Hikigaya to which the duo started laughing.

"Never change, Hikigaya, never change" said Wakamatsu, wiping the tears from his eyes.

 _Well, I jinxed myself. These two were the most strict players on the field after Nii-san, and would often bark out orders. I remember that Nozaki senpai was a central defender and Wakamatsu senpai was my base midfield partner whenever we played in the 4-2-3-1 formation. No way in hell am I going to have a quiet match as these two haven't seemingly forgot about me._

Kazuma then introduced the other players. They were different schools from the same area and Hachiman remembered that he had played against those schools a few times. And some of them brought their friends and girlfriends too.

"So, shall we get warmed up?" asked Kazuma.

"Oi Kazuma, can you wait for a moment? A teammate of mine is also coming. He is also from Soubu High. If I recall correctly, he was the captain of their school team."

 _Well okay, the person who is coming might not even know me, no, he surely won't be knowing me as I'm no Prince of the school like Hayama whose name and influence is widespread across his kingdo….._

 _If I recall correctly, Hayama is a member of the school football team._

 _And he probably is the captain of the team._

A loud voice suddenly breaks Hachiman from his thoughts, and it belonged to none other than the King of Facades, loved and cherished by the normie masses, standing atop the social ladder, equal to everyone, bound to no-one, HAYAMA HAYATO!

Wait, why am I, the narrator introducing him like he is a WWE wrestler?

…..

Ahem. Let's get back on track.

The feeling of surprise was shared seemingly equally between the two, but more so on the part of Hayama. Because obviously, why would the fish-eyed loner of the class be involved in a match between district level athletes?

But since '"Hayama Hayato" is a person who encompasses all the social qualities and abilities that are envied & desired by lesser beings and thus being the prime example of a Superior Riajuu who has only but himself to look at in the ever-increasing sea of inferior normies, he regains his composure and flashes a quick friendly smile towards Hachiman.

"Oh, Hikitani-kun. What a surprise to see you here!" exclaims Hayama with his trademark grin.

"A surprise it is indeed, Hayama.." drones Hachiman in his monotonous voice.

 _Damn, now I have to deal with Hayama? The next time I am invited to something like this, I will make sure to avoid leaving the confines of my house. Better, I'll build myself a bunker in which only I'll be enter into….._

THWACK!

"Oi, Hachman, get your energy reserves up and running. We'll be starting warm-ups now.."

"Grrrrrrr…" Hachiman can only grumble incoherently in response to that attack.

 _What the hell was that for, Nii-san!_

* * *

After all the warm-ups, the teams were decided. Hachiman was with his former team-mates, while Kazuma was with Yoshitake and Hayama. The start was given to Kazuma's team which was decided via a coin toss. The two teams decide to have their strategy talks before starting the match.

"Damn, isn't that a pretty dangerous attack those guys are having?" mumbles Nozaki while saying things about the team selection being unfair.

"Stop it with that deprecating attitude, Nozaki. We've got a great defensive line-up, and we've also got Hachiman here." replies Wakamatsu sharply.

"Uh, Senpai,…..it's been a long time since I've played in a game, so it's a foolish idea to put faith in me…"

"I'm pretty sure you remember what being lazy on the field entailed in middle school, don't you Hikigaya ku~un?" threatens Wakamatsu with a cold smile which put a chill into the other character's spine. Hikigaya found himself at a loss for words, to which Wakamatsu started laughing.

"I'm just kidding, Hikigaya-kun. Today's match is just going to be for fun, so need to feel pressured into assuming a role of responsibility. But Nozaki and I both know your attitude on the field, so we don't have any cause to worry. And you." Wakamatsu points towards Nozaki "stop spreading your nervousness among our team-mates. For goodness' sake, you were our main defensive pillar in the backline."

"It's a mini-court match, we NEED to attack here. There's no use for defence here…." mumble Nozaki, looking downcast.

"So, here's the formation. I'll play with A-kun upfront. Hikigaya, manage the middle. Nozaki and B-kun will handle defence and C-kun will be our goalkeeper. We'll swap out goalkeepers after every three goals scored against us. Agreed?" asks Wakamatsu to which everyone nods in affirmation.

Unbeknownst to our main character, his club-mates had just arrived at the entrance of the turf. They had met up with the Fire Queen of Sobu and the Fujoshi, who also had come to see the match. Tobe was also with them with Ooka and Yamato.

 _Why wasn't Tobe playing, you damned author? Did you forget to incorporate the particular detail that he was also part of the school team in this sorry excuse of a fic?_

Well, the thing is, he sprained his leg. So he recovered enough to walk normally, but playing was still far off by a longshot.

 _Yeah, make some last-ditch efforts to worm your way out of placing using which are contradictory in Nature to that of the original show in your story. No one even pulls these kinds of "mysterious superpower our protagonist gets when he's about to get his ass pummelled with no prior backstory whatsoever" in JUMP anymore, do they?_

Do you want Tobe that badly in your team? I'll make the story such that he becomes your close comrade with whom you've trained for the last year and a half and have developed a great bromance with, and then you both aim for the Nationals…..

 _Okay, I get it. Please don't embed that loudmouth here, pretty please?_

Well, that's gross, but getting back from this little skit of breaking the Fourth Wall, or as I'd like to say….

Breaking down the play.

(Ba-dum-tss….…sorry)

Hikigaya prepared himself for the onslaught of stares and questions directed towards his being by Hayama's clique. And naturally, the one who starts it all has to Tobe.

"Woah there, Hikitani-kun! Didn't know ya played football! We'd have played for the same team and we would have had been footy bros!" shouts our pseudo-delinquent loud enough that his voice could be clearly heard and identified among the sea of spectators in highly energetic stadiums like Anfield and Signal Iduna Park.

Hikigaya, feeling uncomfortable by scrutinizing and surprised stares directed towards him, gave a small nod in reply to the loudmouth. The ball is sent to the centre circle for commencing the game.

 _The game is being played using the new rule of only person being inside the centre circle, isn't it? Not that it matters anyway, though._

 _Let's do this._

* * *

 ** _Hopefully, the next update will sometime next week. Though I'm a dead meme right now, my 'creative spark' isn't finished at all. Or it might be just me who thinks this trash that I'm writing is creative, right. But, anime is trash and so are we viewers, aren't we?  
_**


	6. Chapter 6

**I ABSOLUTELY LOVE GRAND BLUE!**

 **8man POV**

Living beings have a tendency to create so-called 'safe zones' or 'comfort zones' for themselves. Like, take for an example, the cave of a bear. The bear snuggles up inside the cave during winter for 'hibernation' in order to protect itself from the harsh, biting winds that blow outside relentlessly that only the most strong willed members of the animal kingdom would dare to go against. Obviously, that behaviour is shared by the majority of intelligent species who have succeeded in overcoming Darwin's "Sudden Death" shootouts whenever pitted against the other members of the animal kingdom. As we go up higher on the "Species listed by descending order based on their Intelligence" list, these "comfort zones" and habitual tendencies come under two categories; one being the primal instinct and inbuilt mechanisms of the species as a whole and the other in which these are devised on-the-go whenever presented with an obstacle which would have been pretty much unsurmountable if not for the fact that the species have problem solving abilities.

Another example being the hunting territory of a carnivorous animal. The animal might try to go outside the confines of his territory, but it makes no sense for territorial creatures to wander out of their territory looking for their prey when they've already worked so hard in order to gain possession from the previous owner. After the animal wins over the area, in case the area was occupied by a community of its own kind it takes over the pre-existing harem and rules over the "worker" lot, as in case of a pride of lions. These 'zones' aren't necessarily actual zones nor are they meant to be taken literally, but in essence they may refer to certain habits or routines or places which someone..

*Peep*

The game commences with the ball set rolling.

 _Wait, when did we have a whistle?_

 _Oh, it was Tobe. No surprises there. Riajuu_ -ness at its finest

And while I was having these inconsequential thoughts in my mind, Hayama flashes past me. Rather, leaving a red carpet open for him would be the more appropriate phrase for this moment.

Now, I am the kind of person who usually lets people have their way. Even if someone cuts in line before me at the mall, I never go on making an issue out of it and simply settle for a scowl and stare at the aforementioned miscreant. But nothing makes feel more disgusted than being one-upped by the Charming Prince Hayama. Even though I had made it a rule to not get sucked into a competition with him, something about him still ticks me off.

As he is getting mobbed by Wakamatsu senpai and the other guy Hiroshi, I slip in behind them to prevent them from advancing towards the goal. Hayama beats Hiroshi but is completely covered by Wakamatsu. But he somehow finds some space to thread a through ball to Nii san. And now I'm facing him.

'Hey Hachi, facing me so soon?' teases Nii san, as if he thinks that is going to get me riled up. I take some distance from him, trying to cut off all possible dribbling lanes. He rolls the ball to his right with the underside of his boot. I shift a bit towards him but he drags back the ball and hits it with his other foot, nutmegging me in the process.

' _Geh'_ I wince internally as I realize I've been had for. But I've played against too many flashy players during my stint in the middle school team that I remember that getting nutmegged is almost never the end of the world.

Unless your opponent is Messi or Suarez. Then it would almost certainly result in a goal.

Track back immediately. Caught Nii-san near the corner. Not falling for another trick again. Sure, my reflexes might be slower than before but Nii-san rolls the ball again, lifts the ball with his other foot and flicks over me…..that can be easily handled.

Or so I thought.

Rather, it's a lob towards Yoshitake who takes a volley on the first time and the ball finds the back of the net. Opponents – 1, My team – 0.

It took me a little while to interpret what had just happened. He did skill moves that are easy to practice with oneself but require extreme precision and timing to get it right. The first one especially got on my nerves because I wasn't aware enough of an opening in my defence and I obviously had overestimated my reflex speed. I bit my lip in dismay of what I had allowed to happen.

Wakamatsu senpai came up to me and said 'Heh, looks like Kazuma pulled a fast one over you, though this is to be expected, and I'm not even talking about your rustiness. Don't mind Junior, although if this had happened while you were in the team, you know what your fate would have been' smirks Wakamatsu with an evil grin.

(Five minutes pass)

The score is 4 – 2, with Nii-san's side dominating in possession and number of shots. We were barely putting up with some largely ineffective counter attacks and just my luck, I got pretty tired.

'Hey Nii-san, I'm subbing out for five minutes'

'What? We've barely started and you're down!' exclaims Nii-san with a surprised and disappointed face and motions me out of the field.

Don't show me that face. I've already seen enough dejected faces from my family members, don't start off a new trend in my extended family. Very soon I'll be bestowed the title "Most Disappointing Member of the Hikigaya Clan" at a family reunion party in the near future.

As I was getting out the cage, I hear another voice from the field. 'Uh, I'll also sit out temporarily as otherwise, the number of players would be unbalanced' chimes in none other than Hayama, which elicits a dreamy reaction from Miura. Seriously woman? That's all it takes for you to fawn and gush over your crush?

As I make my way towards the stands, sweat dripping from my brows, I'm greeted by the faces of my club-mates. Oh my, I am in for a verbal beating from our beloved club-president.

'Hikigaya kun, I advise you to start getting accustomed to society as I know you sweat buckets while talking to strangers, almost twice the amount while talking to the female sex. See, you're already out of the field in almost five minutes. Better replenish yourself with fluids.' she says as she tosses a bottle of Gatorade towards me. No need to act Tsundere on me, m'kay?

I strut off towards the empty seats in the makeshift stands and see Hayama going towards his group where he starts chatting up a storm with Tobe and Miura. Yukinoshita and Yuigahama were discussing some trivial topic as ascertained by the non-involved face of Yukinoshita.

' _Dammit. My stamina is nothing compared to before when I used to regularly play. Also, there is nothing more irritating than not being able to stop something that you correctly predict. If it were the me from years ago, I would have easily taken possession of the ball that went through my legs.'_

What am I even thinking, huh.

If this were an actual match, Nii-san wouldn't be so loose on the ball. He is the kind of player who only attempts the 'Panna' on opposition players who are advancing towards him so that they don't get a chance to repossess the ball. And he is someone who likes to keep the ball near his feet, not someone who randomly shoots or lobs it over the defence.

And correct I was, as I viewed the game from the sidelines. Nii-san had improved his deftness of touch, and it was impossible to get the ball off him without using a second defender. Even though possession of the ball means nothing if you aren't able to break through the defence of your opponent, he wasn't a one trick pony. He had an excellent eye for picking out short to medium ranged passes, ranging from lobs, through balls, backheels, etc. Pair him up with a speedy striker or winger, and you'd be sure that the other team would be on their nerves, especially their goalkeeper, after seeing his play in the first twenty minutes.

But as this is just a recreation match, I am not able to see what skills he had developed and perfected in those years when I was away from the game. Not that I am sure I will ever be able to see him play on an amateur or professional level again, but I am happy that he still enjoys the game that he has loved so much from his childhood days and has strived to be a part of on an amateur level, working on his skills and stamina daily.

Unlike me.

Flashback

 _Practice match between Hikigaya's middle school and a nearby rival school._

The score is 1-1 at the 88th minute. Wakamatsu senpai is out injured, and since the senior members have left, the first years are out playing. The other team is completely dominating the possession with us relying only on counters to even just get shots to the other side. But the main problem is that we don't have a midfield engine who is pressing the opposition into forcing a mistake. Our interim captain Yoshitake is currently barking out orders even though he is visibly exhausted, panting heavily. He is trying to hound the ball-playing centre backs for the ball, but his efforts obviously aren't coming to fruition. The newer members of our team on the field are just letting the opposition players dribble through them and aren't tracking back enough. Even though I would have liked to press the opposition players for the ball, but in case I'm found out of position we would most certainly lose control in the middle of the park and we would be overrun by the rival midfielders.

Suddenly, we gain control of the ball. Negima, one of my popular classmates (a winger) who has a bad habit of keeping the ball to himself and losing it in the process, sprints forward with the ball ahead of me. Seeing that there weren't any teammates in our vicinity, I decided to take a risk by moving down the wing in support of Negima.

I see an opponent defender covering his escape route, and I remember the guy to be one of the best defenders in the prefecture. Seriously, the guy is 6ft tall and heavily built, and the guy is dominating the area whenever we get the set pieces, rising over everyone else and clearing the ball at the first opportunity. And he also has that tremendous burst of acceleration that is required in the modern full-back in order to start attacks down the wing from your own half. That's too damn unfair that they not only just have 6 feet tall centre-backs, but they also have a wide back of a similar build.

'Negima, don't rush! Pass the ball to me. I'll spray it towards our forwards' I shout but Negima turns a deaf ear to my advice. As he is covered by the gigantic hulk of a player, he rolls the ball to his left, performs a stepover and knocks the ball forward but the opposition player intercepts the ball and puts the ball through Negima's legs in the process. As he stands there dazed, I shout 'Fall back, fall back! It's a counter!' but the guy gives up on tracking back.

I decide to take matters in my own hands. Seeing the relative position of the opposition players in support of the player carrying the ball alongside the touchline out of the corner of my eyes, I motion to Fujisaki, a third year playing as a right back, to execute the defensive routine we had been following since last year whenever these kinds of situations cropped up. He went up to face the player, covering all the passing lanes ahead of him and to his side. Using 'Stealth Hikki', I adjust my position. As Fujisaki makes a fake charge towards the guy, he purposely opens up his legs in the process. Seeing the 'opening', the opposition defender nutmegs Fujisaki in order to get away from him.

All according to plan.

I quickly move up towards the rolling ball, take possession of it, and beat the currently steamrolling opposition player by inches to his right after performing a quick feint. I then initiate a one-two passing sequence with Fujisaki, and after receiving the ball in open space, I decide to drive diagonally towards the middle. As I near the opposition team's penalty box, I spot an unmarked Negima on the left flank who is onside, to whom I pass the ball through the two defenders marking me. He takes on the opposition centre-back who is pulled out of position, cuts inside by knocking the ball and is probably taking a shooting stance..?!

 _Don't go solo, Negima, pls. We know you suck at shooting and there still is a defender in front of you. I'm there outside the box, pass, please! I'm unmarked!_

But he goes for glory.

The ball goes a mile over the crossbar. The seniors show disgusted expressions at that little display of selfishness. Even I shot a glare at the player accountable. The whistle is blown as soon as the goal kick is taken. Everyone shakes hands with the opposing players and move towards the changing rooms. No one is satisfied at the result, not with so many mistakes committed by both teams relating to possession, tactics and defensive stability.

Thankfully, our coach wasn't there to supervise our team today otherwise we would have been chewed out thoroughly.

Even I had half a mind to confront Negima regarding all his solo plays and berate him for his decision making; but what good it be to vent out my frustrations on a single player when the whole team was playing such lacklustre and uninspired football. Seriously, Toshiro shouldn't have given that one week break after the end term exams. He shouldn't have been lenient with those members who made excuses to skip the training sessions. He should have stamped his authority on the slackers just like Nii-san had done it the year before.

 _But something had to be done._

 **The last upload ended with a cliffhanger, so will this one. Muaaahahaha!...**

… **.Ahem.**

 **Juggling college studies, exams, studies, projects have made me into a person who stopped watching anime (Except for seasonal ones, though) and started me on reading manga. And I honestly forget about the fic from time to time.**

 **If you think this is a shitty chapter, this is because I didn't bother to update the chapter I'd written 2 months ago. Don't expect regular updates.**

 **Also, thank you for your kind comments, everyone.**


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